ITNS
The ITNS Board of Directors gathered this past weekend at headquarters for a Strategic Planning session led by facilitator Sherry Schiller. It was a very productive meeting and we even made time to enjoy some famous Chicago deep dish pizza!

ITNSThe International Transplant Nurses Society (ITNS) cordially invites transplant nurses and other transplant professionals from around the world to join us at the 25th Annual ITNS Symposium at The Westin Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, PA, USA from Oct. 14-16, 2016.

Houston Chronicle For most men in their 50s, needing a haircut is a minor inconvenience. For James Boysen, it's a nice problem to have.
A year ago, to repair damage caused by radiation treatments for cancer two decades ago, Boysen became the first person in the world to undergo a skull and scalp transplant. Doctors at MD Anderson Cancer Center and Houston Methodist performed the procedure along with a kidney and pancreas transplant, in a 15-hour surgery involving more than 60 medical professionals. Within days, his doctors marveled to see the transplanted scalp sweat and his hair grow.READ MORE

By Chelsea Adams According to a new meta-analysis, patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease are more likely to develop diabetes following kidney transplantation. The analysis was carried out by researchers at the Mayo Clinic who looked at 12 separate studies to determine the risk of ADPKD patients developing diabetes following kidney transplant. Results were presented at a recent meeting of the National Kidney Foundation.
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HealthITBuzzONC's Rebecca Freeman: As ONC’s Chief Nursing Officer, I spend a lot of time talking about the functionality and usability of electronic health records (EHRs) with the incredible nurses across the healthcare system. Many of us have had bad experiences using information technology (IT), and gotten frustrated with the system itself. But one thing I’ve learned in my conversations with nurses from all over is that there are many, many issues that aren’t technology or system issues at all, but rather process, workflow, or implementation challenges.READ MORE

MedscapeThere has been a proposal by UNOS to change the rules for transplantation of kidneys in patients who are being given a liver transplant — or in other words, a simultaneous liver-kidney transplant.
Why does UNOS think there is a need to change the rules for simultaneous liver-kidney transplants?READ MORE

Observer Transplant science is once again in the news, as surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital announced that they performed the first successful penis transplant in the U.S. on 64-year-old Thomas Manning. This was only the second successful penis transplant worldwide — the first was in South Africa in 2014.
Organ transplants have come a long way in general — internal organs like the kidney, heart, liver and lungs are regularly transplanted, but riskier transplants of the face, arms, hands and now penis have also met with success.READ MORE

Adweek Imagine a plush rooster with a frog's foot where its comb should be.
Such a creature now exists, thanks to a new campaign in Japan. To raise awareness of a shortage of child organ donors, Dentsu employee Akira Suzuki and a colleague created "Second Life Toys," which hopes to resurrect worn-out stuffed animals by combining them with parts from other fuzzy beasts. READ MORE

Reno Gazette-Journal I know a local heart recipient. She’s alive today, able to spend time with her children and grandchildren, because her donor checked “yes” to organ and tissue donation. When she shares her story, she sometimes talks about the circumstances of her donor’s death.
It goes like this:
“My donor did everything right in life. He had just earned his doctorate at Stanford and wasn’t even 25 yet. He was going to be a physician. He loved his parents, and they loved him. He was their only child."READ MORE

YibadaThe National Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee of China says that the country is set to double the number of organ transplant hospitals by 2020.
From the current 169 hospitals that operate about 10,000 surgeries yearly, the committee aims to increase the number to about 300 organ transplant facilities.
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